HEALTH INSURANCE
People with health insurance are more likely to have
a usual source of medical care and to use preventive care,
while
people without health insurance are more likely to have
unmet medical needs and to use hospital emergency rooms
for routine
care.1
In 2001, non-Hispanic White females were the most
likely to be covered by private insurance (77.9 percent)
as compared
to other racial and ethnic groups and the least likely
to be uninsured (9.3 percent). Hispanic females were
the most
likely to be uninsured (30.5 percent) followed by Black
and Asian/Pacific Islander women (17.2 and 17.1 percent,
respectively).
In 2001, 19.5 million females and 21.7
males lacked health insurance. Among adults aged 18-54,
women were less likely
to be uninsured than men, with the greatest difference
between men and women aged 21-24. This may be attributable
to the
greater proportion of women of childbearing age enrolled
in Medicaid. Among persons aged 55-64, however, women
were more likely than men to be uninsured. Most adults
aged
65 and older are covered by Medicare, a public insurance
program.
 [d]
 [d]
1Bloom
B, Simpson G, Cohen RA, Parsons PE. Access to health
care. Part
2Working-age adults. Vital and Health Statistics 10(197);
1997. [Back
to Text]
|
